New Mosques in Turkey

New Mosques in TurkeyThere was a mosque on a hilltop in the Besiktas district of Istanbul that appeared to be as old as time itself. Then I looked a little closer at a little bronze plaque over one of it’s doorways:The year 1996 was printed on it.I confirmed this observation with a Turkish friend later [...]

I can remember questioning an architect in Hungary about why the Hungarians do not make buildings in the grand old style of the past, and he basically told me that doing so was not an option, as the job of the architect to design buildings that fit their own time.

Modern Architecture in Hungary

This mosque in Istanbul is less than 15 years old, yet, from afar, it looks to be as old as the the Prophet’s revelations themselves. When I looked a little closer at this new mosque it became apparent that it was built with modern materials using modern means. The minaret was formed with a rebar structure solidified with concrete, and all of the ornate designs were not made through carving but through concrete molds. The body of the mosque was build with bricks and made to look ornate. Only the basic style and structure of the mosque remained unchanged.

This mosque shows a blending of two worlds, the coming together of two times, in a city that has one foot in the East and the other in the West.

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Wade Shepard is the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. He has been traveling the world since 1999, through 83 countries. He is the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China, and contributes to Forbes, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. Wade Shepard has written 3228 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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Wade Shepard is an itinerant writer who has been traveling the world since 1999, through 83 countries. He is the author of Ghost Cities of China, a regular contributor to Forbes, Citiscope, The Diplomat, and the South China Morning Post. This is his personal blog where he shares the stories from his travels that don’t fit in anywhere else.